The valve you have open in the picture is the safety relief. If that circle on a square piece isn't falling out, it is only because it has become stuck there in time. If you wiggle a screw dirver in beside it, it will fall out. Normally the spring is what's holding it in.

If it is stuck closed, even with the spring out, I have to doubt that it was the side that was leaking. You might want to just put it back together and check the narrower side of that valve. That narrower side is the breather (Vacuum breaker) valve.NOTE: Be careful opening that breathervalve side. The little spring is nearly invisible once it gets away. Unscrew the valve slowly over a tea-towel with the fingertips doing the unscrewing also blocking the spring inside from escaping.

Once you have that melted elbow replaced, you might want to check for the leak with the boiler hot. By pinching the hoses, you can listen for a change to hear which side is leaking.

Darn. I studied the drawings and was certain I had the correct side :( I really did not want to tinker with the safety valve. Do you normally use teflon tape on the brass threads for parts like these when re-assembling?

I will see about getting the other side open. Looks like I need to hit Jim up for some parts.

A tiny bit of teflon tape on that tiny little thread isn't going to hurt anything, but the truth is that there's never any water in that "Safety" side of things unless something's going wrong, so it probably isn't going to be dripping on stuff.

You may be fine without new parts, a little cleaning, make sure there's no calcium interfering with the breather side, reassemble and test. If it works, you can wait on the parts order. (Though having spares for the things that will eventually fail can't hurt).Good luck and have a happy 2014

Thank you. Happy New Year as well..I can see straight through the portion of the vacuum breaker valve that unscrews from the manifold, so I assume that means the valve is sick open. I will try soaking the whole thing in vinegar overnight.

I've had the original cuadra for about a year and today, when I was doing a descaling, it just shut down. It's plugged into a GFI and when i plug it in, it trips the GFI immediately (without even turning switch on). I first thought it might be the GFI that's not working so i plugged it in to a regular outlet and that burned the fuse. Luckily, i had a replacement fuse sitting around so i put that in but it's still not turning on and tripping the GFI immediately. I'm assuming there is a short somewhere inside the machine. Any ideas on what it could be and what i can check?

I've had the original cuadra for about a year and today, when I was doing a descaling, it just shut down. It's plugged into a GFI and when i plug it in, it trips the GFI immediately (without even turning switch on). I first thought it might be the GFI that's not working so i plugged it in to a regular outlet and that burned the fuse. Luckily, i had a replacement fuse sitting around so i put that in but it's still not turning on and tripping the GFI immediately. I'm assuming there is a short somewhere inside the machine. Any ideas on what it could be and what i can check?

Thanks Jim. I'm fairly handy with a multimeter but not familiar with the machine at all. I'm attaching a photo to verify if that's the heating element - the two electrodes sticking out. Is that correct?If I put my multimeter across the two nodes, there is no resistance so it is a short. Is there supposed to be resistance?

That's correct. Those two terminals with the little brass nuts holding the wire-eyelets are the two ends of your element.If you measure resistance from one terminal to the other you''ll get between 11 and 15 ohms.Also measure for a short to ground. Set your multimeter to the highest range of resistance measurement (20M or whatever it is capable of) and measure from the bare copper boiler-wall to each of the terminals in turn. If you get any measurement other than "No conductivity" (Probably a 1 at the left of the display, same as when the probes aren't touching anything), then you have a short to ground.If you have a short to ground, you can verify that it is the element itself by removing the eyelet connections and checking for a short to ground. If you still have a short with the rest of the machine no longer connected to the element, then it has to be the element itself.I did read your statement that you're fairly handy with a multimeter, I am not writing this to insult you, I am just not stopping once I got started and this may help other readers that come across it when searching for included keywords.Good luck.

Sounds like your element is fine. If you can't get conductivity at 20M Ohms sensitivity, it's not shorting... So, we have to suspect something else is tripping the GFI. Is there an obvious leak? Calcium stains at the boiler inlet?(Where the braided hose connects, right above the boiler fill valve). If that's leaking over the valve, maybe the valve's electrical connection is damp and shorting to ground. Anything obvious? burnt connectors?Sorry, I'm just guessing, now. What we're seeing is that you have no short (That the multi meter can detect) when the machine is at rest. But, when the machine is on, the pump and boiler fill solenoid are powered up and suspects.Can you find a short to ground (With the machine unplugged) between ANY live connector (Red or brown wire) and ground (Boiler wall)?If yes, unplug that connector and recheck to see if it's the component or the wire. Keep looking if it's something else on the wiring, or find out why the component has a short if it's the component. (Is this making sense?)

The GFI trips even with the power switch (the front black one) off as soon as i plug in the cord. That is making me suspect the weight sensor that i think comes before the switch in the circuit. Does that sound right or possible? How would i test that?

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